Is the County Board Downsizing a Done Deal?

Bill is unveiled but Milwaukeeans begin pushing back

Long rumored
to be in the works, the draft of a bill to cut the pay and budget of the
Milwaukee County Board of Supervisors was unveiled on Friday at the Hispanic
Chamber of Commerce.

Co-authored
by former Milwaukee County supervisor Joe Sanfelippo, who was sworn in last
week as the Republican state Rep. from West Allis, the bill would cut
supervisors’ pay from $52,000 to $15,000 and reduce their operating budget to
0.25% of the county’s operating budget, or about $1 million.

Sanfelippo
was cheered on by the bill’s co-author, Sen. Alberta Darling (R-River Hills);
former conservative Democratic lawmaker Jason Fields; Julia Taylor, president
of the conservative lobbying group Greater Milwaukee Committee (GMC); Franklin
Mayor Tom Taylor; and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin head Maria
Monreal-Cameron, a fellow conservative.

Although the
bill’s supporters gave themselves a hearty round of applause, the advocates of
downsizing were also jeered by protesters from Citizen Action of Wisconsin, who
held signs saying “Say no to GOP power grab” and “Latinos for full-time
supervisors,” among others.

Supporters
want this bill to be fast-tracked in the state Legislature, since they want to place
the question on the county’s April 2 ballot as a binding referendum. That would
allow the provisions to kick in on Jan. 1, 2014, as specified in the bill. But
Republican Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald indicated on Tuesday that he
wasn’t on board with that plan.

Supporters
argue that the savings from the bill would give Milwaukee County Executive
Chris Abele an easier time crafting his budget for 2014. In addition, he would
have less resistance from the county board supervisors because they would not
have the time or resources to be an effective check and balance to the
executive. This will enable Abele to shrink or even “blow up” county
government, as he and the GMC have long wanted.

Not
surprisingly, Abele, who has deep ties to the GMC, supports the bill.

Questions
About Provisions

Since Republicans
Sanfelippo and Darling are in the majority in the state Assembly and Senate, they
should both have the numbers to pass the bill by Feb. 18 if GOP leaders allow
it.

As creations
and arms of state government, the state Legislature grants counties their
powers and duties. That said, political and legal experts are looking into the
bill’s provisions and, as of this writing, say that even if one doesn’t agree with
the aim of the bill, it could be passed.

So what’s in
it?

n Changing supervisors’ compensation mid-term:
If Milwaukee County voters ratify the changes in a binding referendum, the
board’s pay and budget cuts would begin Jan. 1, 2014, in the midst of the
supervisors’ current four-year terms. Experts who have spoken to the Shepherd say they don’t know of any
precedent for cutting pay mid-term, but concede that legislators could find a
way to make this legal, perhaps by pushing off the start date until the
supervisors’ next term begins.

n Targeting Milwaukee County: The state
constitution grants municipalities, such as the city of Milwaukee, broad “home
rule” powers. That means the state Legislature cannot single out the city of
Milwaukee and pass legislation that only affects it if the bill does not have a
statewide impact.

Wisconsin
counties don’t have the same type of broad home rule authority, but state
statutes do grant them authority over the administration of their own affairs.
However, because these are statutorily granted powers—not constitutional
powers—they can be changed by legislation.

Sanfelippo’s
bill specifically targets Milwaukee County, and only Milwaukee County, by
requiring that the limitations be placed solely on boards in counties with more
than 500,000 residents.

n Requiring a county-wide binding referendum:
According to the bill unveiled last week, the legislation would require the
county to hold a binding referendum on April 2, but it doesn’t include the
specific question to be placed on the ballot. Currently, there is no provision
in state statutes that allows a county to hold a binding referendum on a
question such as this. As it stands now, counties are only allowed to hold
binding referenda on a few very specific matters, such as consolidating
counties. However, the legislature can pass this legislation whether the county
residents like it or not, so this provision is some token effort to get them
involved.

Sanfelippo’s
bill goes one step further by overtly banning the county from placing any other
referendum question on the April 2 ballot, contradicting his argument that his
bill would allow local voters to make their voices heard.

Jursik:
‘Scott Walker on Steroids’

Milwaukee
County Supervisor Patricia Jursik, an attorney, said that state legislators
could likely get away with changing the board’s pay and budget in this manner.
But she warned that shrinking the board’s budget from $6.6 million to about $1
million wouldn’t cover the roughly $1 million in legacy costs incurred by
former board employees, which now comes out of the board’s budget. Nor was
Sanfelippo’s bill in the public’s best interest, Jursik said, since it would
weaken the board and allow moneyed special interests to grab county assets,
such as parkland.

And she had
harsh words for Abele, who has been working with the GMC to raise support for
downsizing the board.

“We now have
Scott Walker on steroids,” Jursik said.

Like Walker,
Abele has had a contentious relationship with board members as he’s sought to
diminish the board’s power and reduce public transparency. Last summer, Abele
conducted a behind-the-scenes search for a private developer for the county’s
Transit Center, cutting out the input of the public and the board until after
he had selected his favorite developer and unveiled the project at a press
conference. Abele also bypassed the board when drafting an agreement with
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett to allow Milwaukee police to patrol the parks.
Supervisors cut that provision from Abele’s proposed budget, and then overrode
Abele’s veto of their vote, although it preserved Abele’s request to allow the
city to handle 911 calls coming from the city.

Both Abele
and Walker have had tight relationships with the conservative business group
Greater Milwaukee Committee.

Abele, who
participated in GMC activities as a philanthropist before he was elected county
executive in 2011, is now acting on Lubar’s wishes to destroy the board.

Milwaukee County By the Numbers

State Rep. Joe
Sanfelippo (R-West Allis) and his allies have claimed that Milwaukee County
supervisors’ pay and operating budget are out of line with other county
supervisors’ pay in Wisconsin. Here’s how the board’s compensation and makeup
compare to other elected officials around the state: